House Raises Flag

The House subcommittee on Courts, the Internet and Intellectual Property this week held a hearing on broadcast flag and analog hole draft legislation. The flag draft was concise, giving the FCC jurisdiction to implement the digital broadcast content protection. The FCC adopted a broadcast flag order two years ago, but

The House subcommittee on Courts, the Internet and Intellectual Property this week held a hearing on broadcast flag and analog hole draft legislation.

The flag draft was concise, giving the FCC jurisdiction to implement the digital broadcast content protection. The FCC adopted a broadcast flag order two years ago, but a court later ruled the commission had exceeded its authority in doing so. The original FCC order would have required receivers manufactured on or after July 1, 2005, to read the flag. In August 2004, the commission approved 13 flag technologies.

The subcommittee also took testimony on legislation designed to plug the so-called "analog hole" through which digital content can feasibly be recorded via an analog output and reconverted to a digital format and subsequently be distributed over the Internet. Dan Glickman, head of the Motion Picture Association of America, testified that digital rights management technology could be stripped away through the analog hole, and that "some consumer devices are being made to intentionally do this."

The CEA's Michael Petricone countered that the analog hole draft was "incomprehensible and impractical," and that it relied to heavily on video encoded invisible light, or VEIL.

"VEIL is largely unknown as far as its cost, functionality, and potential interference with ordinary and legal consumer product uses," Petricone testified.

The chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee intends to push a bill that would give the FCC authority to implement the broadcast flag. At a hearing Tuesday, Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) said, "We are going to push for a broadcast flag bill; at the very least, we'll give the FCC the authority to do it." Witnesses who

Library and consumer groups urged legislators this week to hold hearings on the broadcast flag, noting that a June court decision should prompt Congress to conduct an "in-depth investigation of the significant technology and information policy questions the flag raises." In a letter to Senate Commerce Committee Ted S

Content copyright protection played big in the courts this week. The Supreme Court got a dose of file-sharing arguments, while the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals received more briefs on the broadcast flag. The flag briefs were sought by the Court two weeks ago to determine if the petitioners had a right to challenge th